Nearly four months after being stopped for speeding with an alleged blood alcohol level of .22, a Metro Corrections officer was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence and driving on a revoked license. Additionally, Jason Grove, a 16 year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, was charged with Domestic violence during his Thursday arrest.

CCDC Jailer Jason Grove faces DV and DUI charges.

Grove, 47, was allegedly stopped in late April for speeding when, according to police reports, he failed field sobriety tests. Authorities further allege Grove had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit during the April incident, but have released no additional details on the DUI incident or the events which lead to his being charged with Domestic Violence.

Why Metro waited nearly four months before arresting Grove or releasing the DUI incident to the public has not been explained, but does seem in direct contradiction to Sheriff Doug Gillespie’s continued promise to ensure Metro maintains a reputation of integrity, transparency and community inclusion, a promise first made after Gillespie was caught lying to the public about the crash that took the life of Metro Officer James Manor. Gillespie was emphatic for days after the 2009 crash that Manor and a fellow officer had their lights and sirens on as they sped down Flamingo road at speeds exceeding 100 mph in the moments before Manor collided with Calvin Darling, an employee in the Bellagio’s engineering department who was just trying to make it home alive after his work shift. He maintained this position despite numerous witnesses who came forward to contradict Metro’s account.

James Manor

Darling was immediately blamed for the accident, his heroic efforts to try to save Manor from his burning vehicle ignored, and he was immediately charged with driving under the influence despite a blood alcohol level less than 20% the legal limit. Although Darling eventually received a six figure settlement from Metro, the department did very little to fully exonerate the man vilified to protect the reputation of a reckless officer, as Gillespie’s weak “Mea culpa” below demonstrates.

I guess we should have known when the sheriff’s first display of Metro’s new level of transparency was to withhold the name of the second officer speeding in the dark of night without lights or sirens alerting fellow drivers. This was also the driver that initially told the “lie heard ’round the valley,” set up the innocent Darling to be arrested, painted a villain, an enemy of law enforcement. A reputation that stuck, as even today, the blame for the accident is placed on Darling on the police memorial sites such as Policeone.com, and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

So are we supposed to take Gillespie’s decision to keep this story from the public the same way we should take his silence about the department’s recent backroom deal to let the Drunk Driving Detective, Timothy Nicothodes, receive a medical retirement rather that the customary termination that most cops turned convicted felons are awarded.

Or better yet, Gillespie should just let us all know what his personal definition of “TRANSPARENCY” is because he sure doesn’t seem to have the same one the rest of the English-speaking world does.

Grove is currently on paid administrative leave pending both criminal and internal investigations. In 2011 taxpayers shelled out $141,771.97 in total pay & benefits to C.O. Grove.

7 thoughts on “Metro Officer’s Arrest For D.V. and DUI Makes us Wonder–Does Sheriff Gillespie Know the Definition of “Transparency””

Another good post. I just went to the NLEOMF website and I was troubled to read that they make the claim that Officer Manor’s lights and sirens were activated at the time of his crash.

I find it interesting that Metro seems to distance itself from correction officers when incidents like this occur but if a jailer dies in a car accident Metro seems eager to claim that one of their own lost his life protecting the community.

Thanks for your posting. I noticed Metro’s somewhat schizophrenic treatment of it’s jailers as well. Metro has a history of treating its jailers as second class citizens.

Victor Hunter was a perfect example. Hunter was working at the CCDC when he began experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack. After informing his son and coworker, Christopher, of his condition, the younger Hunter was relieved when one of the many nurses on staff arrived. Christopher returned to his post knowing his father was in capable medical hands. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Rather than call 911 or even take Hunter to the infirmary the nurse gave him some sort of injection and told him to drive home. He was on the phone with his wife, Noreta, a few blocks from the CCDC, on his way to nearby UMC when the phone call was cut off. Noreta would later learned he husband had died behind the wheel, just a few blocks from the jail.

One would expect that an officer whose heart attack is ignored by his fellow staff workers and then died trying to get to the hospital mid-shift would receive the same benefits as an off-duty officer who is killed in a random home invasion robbery. But that would make sense and this is Metro, remember.

Hunter’s death was quickly determined to be an “off-duty” event denying his widow of valuable benefits and denying Hunter of the same tribute given to James Manor whose death was a result of his failure to adhere to basic department guidelines — an official police funeral.

Las Vegas, Nevada; It has been reported that District Attorney Steve Wolfson will prosecute Jesus Arevalo, with 99% certainty. Without question, Veterans In Politics, International, commends and supports Mr. Wolfson, should he go forward with this endeavor. Since December 2011, Jesus Arevelo has escaped justice after executing cancer-ridden disabled Gulf War Veteran Stanley Gibson, by shooting the unarmed and subdued man in the back of the head 7 times with an AR 15 assault rifle.

We would urge Mr. Wolfson to continue his pursuit of justice by helping citizens address the issue of un-ending paid administrative leave for officers whom are under investigation. If an officer’s behavior is egregious enough to warrant an investigation, tax payers should not be asked to give them a paid vacation. These officers are being rewarded. The cost to taxpayers is astronomical, unfair, and criminal.

The Police Protective Association (PPA) should also be put in check. Too often, the conflict of interest that exists with the relationship between LVMPD and the PPA results in no justice to the residents of Clark County.

Chris Collins of the Police Protective Association, stated to reporters, “The PPA believe…officer Arevalo acted well within statutes of the State of Nevada, the policies of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and committed no criminal act.“ If this is a fact, that the policies of LVMPD include authorizing officers to assassinate unarmed, physically and mentally ill citizens, then we need to address not only the resignation of Las Vegas Sheriff Doug Gillespie, but also the resignation and possible prosecution of officers whom implement this policy, as well as the authors of such statutes and policies.

In addition, to these failed and criminal policies are the reports we have received of Clark County Judges showing favoritism and special treatment for LVMPD officers who are arrested, by issuing them Orders of Release (OR) without first having to post any bail, allowing the use of special phones for incarcerated officers, and being processed more quickly than every other citizen. We would remind our elected officials that we are ALL equal under the law.

On the issue of officers who are arrested, recently Gillespie stated “I am given daily reports of officers who are incarcerated.” Are LVMPD officers committing crimes often enough to be arrested daily? Or, if not being arrested daily, are they being arrested often enough that a “daily” report is needed? If LVMPD officers who serve under Las Vegas Sheriff Doug Gillespie are so regularly breaking the law, the public should know who they are, and their records. This is a very serious issue that Mr. Wolfson is well within his duties to investigate, and owes it to Clark County citizens to do so.

We believe Mr. Wolfson to be a man of integrity, who respects and desires justice for the people of our County. We recognize the difficulty in standing up against a system that has a long time culture of being taken advantage of by corrupt and unscrupulous individuals who use their positions to further their own political agendas and careers.

Mr. Wolfson is a man who has the courage to fight for justice on behalf of the citizens of Clark County.

The rules of our military in combat are to “search and destroy”. Even in combat our military have their weapons on safe. Even in combat our military is subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the Geneva Convention, and Double Jeopardy. Military service personnel is in the fight, day in and day out; no “paid administrative leave”, no unions to protect them if and when they break the law, the enemy would get an award for eliminating our troops, and most of our military are also on welfare, because they are fighting for God and Country and not for a paycheck.

A police officer’s oath is to “protect and to serve” that means to protect citizens lives and to serve the public. A police officer discharges their weapons and immediately take a paid vacation, If they break the law they immediately take a paid vacation, a lot of them work for a paycheck not for the rights of our citizens, a police officer is protected by their unions no matter if they are “right or wrong”, these police unions influence our judges, district attorney’s, sheriff, and all our elected officials with endorsements and financial advancements. Some of the men and women that carry a badge have a sense of entitlement, they believe that they could do no wrong and if they get caught they will be cleared of all charges by excusing their behaviors.

When will politicians be “public servants” once again? When will our public servants place the rights of our American Citizens above Politics and do the right thing?

Sadly the idea that police are actually required to “protect and serve” is nothing more than that, an idea, a myth a fairy tale we can tell our children at bedtime. The courts have ruled time and time again that police have no real obligation to to protect the public they have sworn to “protect and serve.”

And police in New Hampsire are taught to assume that citizens have a moral and legal duty to protect them.

I think some people misunderstand why so many citizens (like me) are disturbed by police using “assault” or military type rifles. The militarization of law enforcement scares me. Police are civilians and their job is to “keep the peace,” or “to protect and serve.” They are supposedly trained to resort to violence only as matter of last resort.
The military’s job is to seek out, overpower, and destroy an enemy. Outfitting civilian law enforcement in military gear feeds a mind-set that they are not police officers serving a community, but soldiers at war.

The overuse of SWAT is another example of how the militarization of police has gotten out of control. SWAT needs to be used for it’s original function-defusing those rare, emergency situations in which a suspect presents an immediate threat to someone’s life or safety. Instead SWAT used in the service of drug warrants and even to respond to calls about angry dogs and domestic disputes.

The military toys and the soldier mindset of cops along with the fact they are trained to be scared of virtually EVERYTHING puts the public in danger of police as much as we are from violent criminals.